Category: Speeches

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of how representative the Syrian National Council is of all Syrian opposition groups.

    Hugh Robertson

    The Syrian National Council is one part of the National Coalition. I have called for women, in particular, to be represented more in the National Coalition. I am pleased that the National Coalition has made strenuous efforts to broaden its membership to attract all sections of Syrian society, including ethnic and religious minorities and women, stating that it is a Coalition for all Syrians. The most recent organisation to join its ranks is the Kurdish National Council. We continue to work with the National Coalition in their efforts to deliver more services on the ground through the Interim Government.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria he will use in deciding in which schools to establish a new Combined Cadet Force detachment.

    Anna Soubry

    The cost of setting up a new Combined Cadet Force (CCF) unit under the Cadet Expansion Programme depends largely on the number of cadets in the unit.

    Decisions on opening new CCFs in schools are made jointly by the Department for Education and Ministry of Defence (MOD). The key criteria for deciding which schools can establish a new CCF are the ability of the school to fund the new unit and provide sufficient adult volunteers to run it. However, we are particularly interested in establishing CCFs in areas of deprivation.

    No assessment has been made of the effect of establishing new CCFs in state schools on recruitment to community cadet units. However, it should be noted that CCFs and community cadet units deliver different but complementary elements of the MOD’s youth engagement strategy.

  • Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Robert Buckland – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Buckland on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Attorney General, whether any domestic violence cases have led to prosecutions for coercive control since the inclusion of coercive control in the Government’s definition of domestic violence in March 2013.

    Oliver Heald

    The CPS flags all cases identified as domestic violence according to the revised Government definition implemented in March 2013. This includes the elements of coercive control, and behaviours which do not display visible injuries such as psychological abuse which were introduced in the revised definition. However the records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) cannot separately identify the number of people prosecuted for each of these elements. Such information could only be obtained through a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.

  • Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he expects to release funds to finance the extension of staying put for young people leaving care.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Local authority allocations for 2014-15 of the Staying Put Implementation Grant will be paid in four instalments on or by 30 June 2014, 30 August 2014, 30 November 2014 and 27 February 2015.

  • Khalid Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    Khalid Mahmood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Khalid Mahmood on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the families of all victims of crimes for which the beneficiaries of so-called comfort letters were convicted have yet been informed that such letters were issued.

    Mrs Theresa Villiers

    The administrative scheme established by the previous government operated as follows; the police (and in some cases the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland) checked whether sufficient evidence existed in each case at that time for named individuals to be questioned, arrested or prosecuted if they returned to Northern Ireland or any other part of the United Kingdom.

    If it was concluded that there was no prospect of any prosecution based on the evidence then available, the individuals were informed that they were not wanted by the police – the letters were only ever a statement of fact regarding an individual’s status with the police and prosecuting authorities at a particular point in time i.e. whether they were sought for arrest or not. Lady Justice Hallett has been appointed to investigate the administrative scheme and to provide a full public account of how it operated.

  • Huw Irranca-Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Huw Irranca-Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of the EU ban on importing Indian mangoes on UK businesses.

    Dan Rogerson

    The gross annual cost to UK businesses of the European Union ban on importing mangoes from India has been estimated at around £375,000 per year.

  • Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the degree to which his Department has complied with the Public Sector Equality Duty with regard to disabled cyclists.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Department for Transport considers equality issues in exercising its functions, to comply with the equality legislation and to ensure it understands how its activities will affect different people. While there is no requirement under the Equality Act to carry out Equality Impact Assessment on cycling policy, the Department believes disabled cyclists should not be disadvantaged.

    To help local authorities develop infrastructure for cyclists, including disabled cyclists, the Department has produced guidance through Cycle Infrastructure Design (Local Transport Note 2/08). LTN 2/08 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-transport-notes

    “

  • Fiona Bruce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Fiona Bruce – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department categorises the ellaOne pill as a contraceptive or abortifacient for the purposes of its record keeping.

    Jane Ellison

    It is classed as a contraceptive.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to make it easier to report benefit fraud allegations.

    Esther McVey

    The public can report benefit fraud by telephoning the National Benefit Fraud Hotline which is a confidential free phone service that anyone can use anonymously to report their suspicions. The service is widely used handling over 350,000 referrals in 2013/14. Alternatively an allegation can be made using an online facility, by letter, or by telephoning a Jobcentre Plus office.

    We recently ran a communications campaign pilot to test the effectiveness of communications in reducing fraud and error and we are looking to expand this activity. Our communication campaign aims to challenge and change attitudes and behaviours towards benefit fraud. This includes improving awareness of the need for claimants to report changes in their circumstances and encouraging the general public to report potential benefit fraud.

    We are actively looking at ways to improve fraud referrals, in particular, focusing on making better use of digital channels and technology.

  • Jamie Reed – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jamie Reed – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what correspondence he has received on concerns over the potential closure of GP surgeries in the last year.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 410 items of correspondence received since 1 June 2013 about concerns over the potential closure of general practitioner surgeries. The cost of a more comprehensive search would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department.